There's This Girl
by I am Lu
Summary: One-shot. "He's the type who never listens to anyone else's advice. So we end up talking about other coordinators we might have seen in performance. And at some point, he started in on you. You and only you." Light Contestshipping, May/Drew.


**There's This Girl. **_Based on events preceding AG179 "May We Harley Drew'd Ya!"_

"Time's up! And the winner of the Sable City Contest is Drew and his Flygon of La Rousse City, Hoenn!" Lilian Meridian announced with a twinkle of excitement in her eyes and a cheerful grin plastered on her red lips. "If I'm not mistaken, this is the fifth and final ribbon Drew needs to enter the Kanto Grand Festival at the Indigo Plateau!" The crowd erupted into wild cheers as Drew joined Mr. Contesta and the other judges on stage to accept his prize, pinning it to his Flygon.

Solidad was watching from the back of the auditorium, and smiled upon hearing Drew's announced win. She, herself had already won all the ribbons necessary for entrance into the Grand Festival, and thus had no need to enter this particular contest. When she caught wind, however, that Drew "The Prince of Coordinating" Hayden was entering the Sable City Contest, she couldn't help but make the short trip from Pewter City to see him compete.

Drew shook hands with his opponent and left the arena. Other people began filling out of the contest hall, as well. Solidad knew this was her only opportunity to catch Drew if she wanted to speak with him; the young coordinator was always on the move, and as such, usually left town right after a contest to travel to his next destination, unless something (or someone) gave him reason to hang around a bit longer.

Solidad headed down into the coordinator's lounge, which at that point had emptied out, save for the lone green-haired trainer she was seeking after. He had just packed his things and shut up his locker, apparently ready to go. Solidad sighed in relief, glad she had found him before he left, and leaned up against the doorway with a half-smile.

"I must say, Drew, that was an impressive battle today," she began, catching him off-guard. He obviously had not expected anyone else to be there. "You've obviously raised your Flygon very well. I still remember when he was just a little Trapinch. He was the first Pokémon you caught, aside from Roselia, wasn't he?" Drew smirked and flicked his hair before turning toward her.

"Thanks, Solidad," he began, approaching her. "Yeah, I've been with Flygon for awhile, now. I only started entering him into regular contests after last year's Hoenn Grand Festival, though."

"Ah, right," Solidad said, "I remember, you were the runner-up. It seems you have another chance to be the Top Coordinator this year, though." Drew shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Yup," he replied shortly. "Are you entering too, Solidad?"

"Mhm."

"Good. I hope to get the chance to battle you then."

"Same here." She tilted her head when he shifted the bag on his shoulder. "Oh, don't tell me you're leaving already. You've got time; the Grand Festival isn't for three months. It only takes a week to get to the Indigo Plateau from here. So there's no need to hurry; come on, let's get some coffee, my treat for the Sable City Contest winner."

"I was actually thinking of going to Chrysanthemum Island, for a bit of R and R." He smirked. "But, you're right, I have time. I think I'll take you up on that offer for coffee. Know any good places around here?" Solidad smiled.

"As a matter of fact, I do."

* * *

"One Vanilla Latte and Iced Coffee with Milk, coming right up!" the waitress said with a friendly grin, pushing her pencil behind her ear after taking down the two coordinator's drinks. Solidad thanked her before she scurried off to attend to her other customers.

"So, what have you been up to?" Solidad asked after the waitress disappeared. "We talked about me all the way here, and now I think it's your turn."

"Oh, you know, the usual," Drew replied with a shrug. "I did add a new Pokémon to my team. I plan to debut him at the Kanto Grand Festival, once I've trained him up a bit more."

"A new Pokémon?" she inquired, her eyebrows raised inquisitively.

"I can't tell you what, Solidad," he replied, smirking. "That would ruin the surprise." She resisted the urge to roll her eyes; typical Drew.

"Any new up and coming coordinator's you've seen?" she asked. This was the direction their conversations always seemed to head. Drew was uncomfortable talking about his own performances, but was always willing to give his opinion about other coordinators and their Pokémon. Solidad was the same way, to a certain extent. Thus, they had formed an unspoken agreement early on that they would avoid critiquing each other's contest battles and focus on other competition they might have faced elsewhere. Drew shrugged.

"Well, that Joey kid I battled in the contest today wasn't half-bad. His Persian was really something else, though. He obviously put a lot of work into raising it," he began casually. "The battle probably would have gone on for a lot longer, if the timer hadn't run out." The waitress came by and delivered their drinks as he spoke.

"That all?" Solidad asked, taking a sip of her latte. Drew seemed to hesitate.

"Well, no," he said a little tentatively. "There's this girl from Petalburg. I competed with her multiple times in Hoenn last year, and I think she actually has the makings of a Top Coordinator in her—if she can ever beat me that is." This statement caught Solidad's attention for a couple of reasons: (1) He specified this particular coordinator was _a girl_. Although she was sure he never did so intentionally, Drew usually referred to his competition with either gender-neutral pronouns or just their first name. (2) He said she had the makings of a Top Coordinator. He'd never given anyone they'd discussed such high praise before.

"Go on," Solidad said simply.

"Her name is May Maple. I met her at the first contest in Hoenn last year, in Slateport City," he explained. "And Arceus, was she terrible. Her Beautifly saved her from making a complete fool out of herself, and even managed to get her past the appeals round. My Roselia and I went up against in her and her Pokémon in the first match, though, and knocked them out before Roselia could even take any damage." Solidad crossed her legs in her seat and leaned her elbow on the table, resting her chin on the palm of her hand; she had a feeling Drew had a lot to say about this May Maple, and was making herself comfortable for the long ramble Drew was going into (which, Solidad noted, was also unusual; he was typically very concise with his words and in his speech).

"She got better, though?" Solidad asked. Drew nodded.

"I have to admit, Solidad, I underestimated her abilities," he said. "She still has a lot to learn, but she's come a long way. She works well with any Pokémon. She and her Combusken, in particular, make a great team."

"Think she'll make the Kanto Grand Festival this year?"

"She's behind on ribbons, but there's no doubt in my mind she will," Drew replied. "I fought her in Hoenn Grand Festival, and it was a pretty close call. If it weren't for Flygon and his Steel Wing, the match could have gone either way." Solidad couldn't resist asking:

"Is she cute?" Drew nearly choked on his coffee.

"W-what kind of question is that, Solidad?" he demanded, a little flustered. Solidad had to lift her hand to hide the small smile that was spreading across her lips; it seemed odd and something very un-Drew like of him, but she had it in her head that perhaps the young coordinator had a crush on this girl. She didn't ever think she'd see the day Drew would take an interest in something other than contests and battling.

"I'm just wondering," she said innocently. Drew flicked his hair and looked down, trying to conceal his blush.

"Er... Well, I don't know, I guess as far as girls go, she's all right," he managed to stammer out. Solidad wanted to laugh; this truly was Drew in rare form. He was typically so secretive about his emotions. The most she had ever seen out of him before this was the time he lost his first contest to her, when he teared up after the disappointing loss.

"She's just my rival, though," Drew continued quickly, after gathering himself together. "I see that look, Solidad, don't get any funny ideas."

"Oh, so she's your rival?" Solidad said, ignoring his latter statement. "That's good. You need a rival."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Solidad shrugged.

"Your performance today, it was different from what I usually see," Solidad explained. She was doing a bit of tip-toeing around the subject, remembering Drew's aversion to hearing about his own performances. "This May, I think she's done wonderful things for you: You're much more competitive. When you meet someone you refuse to lose to—a rival, that is—you start to train and work a lot harder than before. I can see that from today's contest."

The conversation eventually drifted to other subjects and long after the two coordinators and friends had finished their drinks, they decided to part ways with the promise they would see each other again at the Indigo Plateau. As Solidad set off back for Pewter City, however, she only had one thing on her mind:

She couldn't wait to meet May Maple.

**Fin.**


End file.
